are there any older ex-office mini PCs like the elitedesk, optiplex, thinkstation, etc models that can fit a 3.5" drive? Not looking for anything new and thus expensive, just want some old junker (6/7/8th gen Intel) that can host some light stuff. thanks
The micro/tiny form factor PCs generally only have space for a 2.5" drive, while the SFF/desktop size PCs can fit at least one 3.5" drive.
Dell, 8th Gen Intel with one 3.5" drive bay: https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/optiplex-7060-sff/opti_7060_sff_setup_specs_manual/storage?guid=guid-4eab9a0b-c403-4bcd-b692-9419bddfed24&lang=en-us
Lenovo, should have one 3.5" drive bay: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/desktops/thinkcentre/m-series-sff/thinkcentre-m920s/11tc1mdm92s?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&srsltid=AfmBOorJ_EUW-QYIIIGy3i7ZJbitPq8UWoxdoQxtM_BNabrKcNojn7WL#tech_specs
If you can find them the “mini” format Elitedeak has a 3.5" internal bay along with an optical, for what it’s worth. It’s not as small as a “micro” but it’s smaller than a tower, and at my hearby Uni, they go for the same (cheap) prices.
Why 3.5" drive? (Just curious).
I’ve found prices aren’t necessarily any better at that size.
Not the OP, but capacity: there aren’t 20TB 2.5 drives.
(Or 18, 16, 14, 12, or 10TB ones, for that matter…)
Kinda a dead-end product since laptops are all on SSDs, and enterprises have flocked to SSDs as well and that was essentially the entire market for that size of HDD.
Putting that much data on just one drive freaks me out
Raid builds hurt financially up front but can save you from a lot of heartache later, even with larger disks.
Totally. I’ve got an 8TBx4 RAID5 that has about as much space as one 20TB spinning drive, but with the advantage that if one fails I don’t lose anything.
Putting 20TB on one drive though? That’s too risky for me.
That’s why you use 2 and have backup.
Two is one and one is none.
just want some old junker (6/7/8th gen Intel)
You probably have to go back further than that for a 3.5" sff pc. Look on woot though, they have such refurbs all the time. Or scrounge a mini tower.
Tons. Go look for refurb units from any of the big manufacturers, but I doubt you’ll get them at steal prices. Have a look at the Minisforum larger format models that are more updated and $250-400. They can fit that and more. The MS-01 is a gem.
